Grey Literature

Finding grey literature can be difficult. Since grey literature is not always indexed in research databases, it requires different search techniques in order to find information relevant to your topic of interest. The tabbed sections on this guide offer quick introductions to a variety of material types, but we would also recommend reaching out to your subject librarian for more tailored assistance.

There are many options for searching for grey literature and we really want to emphasize there is no one perfect way.  It will largely depend on the scope of the research question you are attempting to answer, as well as time and capacity considerations (what you can reasonably do in the time allotted -- realistically you have to stop at some point). The following are a few probing questions to help you think a bit more deeply about your search.

1. What kind of information are you looking for? Are you looking for data/statistics? Government documents or reports? Drug trials? Early results from research underway or recently conducted (conference proceedings)?  Policies? Patents?
2. Who would publish this type of information? Identify interested parties (e.g. could be scholars, organizations, governments, or industries, who might produce information on your topic).  When thinking about this, ask yourself: “Who might have a vested interest in the topic you’re exploring?”
3. Are there any limits/criteria to help focus what you’re looking for? (e.g. publication dates / geographic regions / particular population / language)